This year, for Civic Learning Week, help young people discover what civic engagement means to them.
It can be challenging to discuss civics and elections with young people, in or outside the classroom. Especially as the 2024 election year progresses and Presidential race comes into closer focus. Civic Learning Week, an annual event hosted by iCivics on March 11-15, is a great opportunity to introduce the topic of civic participation to young children while giving teenagers greater context and insight into the political process. Youth of all ages can explore the foundations of our government, and essential functions of a Democracy, by learning about the responsibilities we each have as citizens.
Inspire student engagement, cultivate ethical behavior and personal responsibility, and educate about our system of government with the videos, activities, interactive tools, and lesson plans below. From thinking critically about today’s local and national issues to investigating the history of voting rights in America, these curated resources can help young people better understand the importance of civic participation.
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Learn About Civic Participation & Democracy
How to Talk to Children About Politics
Grades PreK-5
Talking to children about voting, politics, and civic engagement can feel overwhelming. Here are a few tips on how to help kids understand how to be participants in creating positive change.
You, Me & Community collection
Grades PreK-5
Introduce basic civics concepts to younger students, grades PreK-2, by starting with the You, Me & Community collection. This collection explores topics in civics & government, geography, economics, and history.
NY& Civics collection
Grades 3-8
Learn how voting and government work in New York State. Explore the basics about voter registration, voter fraud, voter suppression, and NYS’s three branches of government. Analyze the importance of NYS voter participation, the youth vote, and local elections. Discover what NYS is doing to improve access to the ballot box. This collection features videos, teaching tips, discussion questions, and activities to guide instruction and support students’ understanding of the significance of being informed and civically engaged.
Election Central collection
Grades 3-12
Voting and elections are an essential part of democracy. Keep up with election news, study the history and process of elections, learn about voting rights, and engage in classroom debates with these videos, activities, and lesson plans. This collection includes a list of Civic Learning Week events from across public media to support educators.
Voting & Democracy collection | Above the Noise
Grades 6-12
These videos from Above the Noise dive into debates over policy and the role of government in our lives. Above the Noise takes viewers along for the journey as host Myles Bess cuts through the hype surrounding controversial topics in the news to find out what’s really going on. Each video comes with supports for middle and high school classrooms, including a lesson plan, viewing guide, and sentence frames for diverse learners that encourage student voice and foster civil conversation about complex topics.
Election Basics | Crash Course Government and Politics
Grades 9-12
There are a lot of people in the U.S, and holding individual issues up to a public vote doesn’t seem particularly plausible. To deal with this complexity, we vote for people, not policies, that represent our best interests. But as you’ll see, this process was not thoroughly addressed in the Constitution, so there have been a number of amendments and laws at the state level implemented to create the election system we all know and (maybe) love today.
Books, Games & Activities to Encourage Civic Engagement
Arthur’s Park Game | ARTHUR
Grades PreK-2
Practice taking action to improve your world by playing Arthur’s Park, a digital game from the PBS KIDS series ARTHUR. In order to create a new park in an empty lot, Arthur has to make a speech to raise awareness, hold a bake sale to make money, and then equip the park. As children play each round, set in a board game format, they accumulate stars that they use to “buy” what they need for a new park. They also recognize the importance of making a plan to achieve one’s goals.
9 Picture Books About Voting and Elections
Grades PreK-4
It’s National Voter Registration Day! These books can help you jump-start a conversation with your kids about voting, democracy, citizenship, and equality.
Critical Changemakers Worksheet
Grades 3-8
History books tell one perspective of the past. That automatically lends itself to having missing information or not telling the full story. Some of that missing information is modern-day leaders in society who are working to make change every day. Use this worksheet to research and take notes on leaders and changemakers to create your own version of a history book.
The Powers of Government
Grades 3-8
In this interactive lesson supporting literacy skills in U.S. history, students learn about the three branches of the United States government. Students explore the powers that the Constitution assigns to each branch—legislative, executive, and judicial—and how the three branches work together. During this process, they read informational text, learn and practice vocabulary words, and explore content through videos and engagement activities.
Civic Engagement and Student Involvement: Lesson Plan | PBS NewsHour
Grades 6-12
Civic engagement is a way for any individual to help accomplish major political or social change. In this lesson, students will not only learn the importance of civic participation, but also the tools that allow individuals to engage in the political process.
The History of Voting Rights | Interactive Timeline
Grades 6-12
Analyze the evolution of voting rights in the United States, starting with the ratification of the U.S. Constitution and ending with the current competing efforts to suppress voting rights and improve voting access in this interactive timeline. Students learn about key events that have either expanded or suppressed voting rights as well as the roles that both government institutions and ordinary citizens have played in effecting these changes.
Civics Superstars From the Past & Present
Eleanor Roosevelt Reader | Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum
Grades K-2
Print and fold this 2-page biosketch about Eleanor Roosevelt into a booklet! Eleanor Roosevelt fought for women’s rights, African Americans’ rights, and human rights in America. She used her role as First Lady, and later as the first U.S. delegate to the United Nations General Assembly, to champion universal human rights globally. She even has an award named after her that honors other people and organizations that positively impact human rights!
Booker T. Washington | Yellowhammer History Hunt
Grades 3-5
Booker T. Washington, born into slavery, became a prominent educator, author, and civil rights leader. As a founder of the Tuskegee Institute, Washington emphasized practical education, the dignity of all labor, public service, and economic self-sufficiency for African Americans.
Girl Power: Women Who Make an Impact in the World of Civics
Grades 6-12
Despite the various challenges that women have had to overcome, and continue to overcome, their influence has had a lasting impact and transcends any moment in time. Here are 5 resources from PBS LearningMedia that elevate women who have made, or are currently making, an impact through civic engagement.
The Right to Vote | John Lewis: Get in the Way
Grades 6-12
John Lewis was one of the many who fought long and hard for the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and as an elected member of Congress, he was a beneficiary of this legislation. Yet hard-won rights are not necessarily secure. In the Shelby County v. Holder ruling of 2013, the Supreme Court struck down key sections of this legislation, and, as Lewis says, “stabbed the Voting Rights to its very heart.”
How Politics and Personality Propelled the First Female Justice to the Supreme Court | Sandra Day O’Connor: The First
Grades 9-12
Learn how Sandra Day O’Connor’s unique skills and personality, combined with a politically motivated decision by President Reagan to appeal to female voters, led to her historic confirmation as the first female Supreme Court justice in these videos adapted from Sandra Day O’Connor: The First | AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.
Did you know?
After her retirement, Sandra Day O’Connor became a fierce advocate for youth civics education. In 2009, she founded iCivics, an organization dedicated to providing students in America with innovative, free online resources focused on civic engagement — and the host of Civic Learning Week!
For even more games and educational resources for young learners, go to the Let’s Vote! Talking to Children About Voting collection on PBS Kids for Parents.